Research and Reports

While some critics have charged that changing to a four-day school
week may have negative effects on student achievement, researchers at
Colorado State University have completed a study indicating that the
switch to a four-day schedule has "no effect" on achievement as
measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

The study examined test scores of 104 students from five rural
Colorado districts over four consecutive years--two years prior to and
two years following a change to a four-day school week.

Joseph L. Daly and Robert W. Richburg of csu's department of
education analyzed test scores of 62 students in grades 3 through 6 and
of 45 students in grades 4 through 7.

The researchers found that the only significant changes in
achievement could be attributed to the fact that students had been
promoted to a different grade.

They cited the following benefits of a four-day week: savings on
energy costs and transportation, low absentee rates for teachers and
students, and more time for inservice opportunities and planning for
teachers.

As of 1982, about 100 school districts nationwide operated on a
four-day week, according to Joseph L. Newlin, executive director of the
Rural Education Association, which is located at csu

Copies of the report, which was funded in part by the U.S. Education
Department and the Colorado Department of Education, are available upon
request from Joseph L. Newlin, Office of Rural Education, Department of
Education, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo. 80523; (303)
491-7022.

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